Recently, the mobile information terminals, especially the mobile phones have become significantly common. As for the mobile phones, such as a strait type and a folding type are used, and especially the folding type of mobile phones are used widely and required largely because these can be held compactly.
The mobile phones nowadays are improved in those multiple functions, therefore they are not used only for communication, but also become to be used as the mobile information terminals including additional functions of a browser for such as an internet, a sending/receiving terminal for an e-mail, scheduling, and the like. Those contents to be displayed are varied in a wide range such as a large amount of character information, images, and the like.
Further, a mobile phone having a landscape display to be used when taking a picture and watching a television has been developed.
Therefore, a mobile phone with a simple folding function cannot respond to the demands for a multifunctional mobile phone. Accordingly, mobile phones including a biaxial structure, a triaxial structure, or an universal hinge mechanism in which a hinge section includes both an opening/closing mechanism and a rotation mechanism have been developed, and such mobile phones which are usable while keeping the first housing having a display surface to be in a plurality of states such as being rotated with respect to the second casing, as well as being opened or closed, have been used. In such a structure, a control section is provided to detect and recognize each state in many types of mobile phones.
For example, a folding type mobile phone apparatus having an opening/closing function with which the upper housing is to be opened and closed in a longitudinal direction and an opening/closing function with which the same is to be opened and closed in a short side direction, with respect to the bottom housing, and in addition, a folding function with which the mobile phone is folded with the upper housing being reversed back to front (refer to Patent Document 1, for example) has been well known.
As shown in FIG. 15, a mobile phone 100 disclosed in Patent Document 1 enables an upper housing 103 to be opened and closed with respect to a bottom housing 101 via hinge unit 102.
The hinge unit 102 is composed of a first hinge unit 121 having a first rotation shaft 104 and a second rotation shaft 105, and a second hinge unit 122 connected to the second rotation shaft 105 and having a third rotation shaft 106.
Rotations of each rotation shafts 104, 105, and 106 mentioned above are detected by a rotation angle detection unit.
FIG. 16 shows a cross-section taken along line X-X in FIG. 15. As shown in FIG. 16, a plurality of magnets 130 is attached on a surface of a flange 104a in the first rotation shaft 104. Approach of those magnets 130 is detected by a first rotation detecting unit 131 attached on a print substrate 113, so that a rotational angle of the first hinge unit 121 is detected.
In the same manner as the above, a plurality of magnets 132 is attached on an end face of the second rotation shaft 105, and approach of those magnets 132 is detected by a second rotation detecting unit 133 attached near the second rotation shaft 105, so that a rotational angle of the second hinge unit 122 is detected.
Further, a plurality of magnets is attached on an end face of the third rotation shaft 106, and approach of those magnets is detected by a third rotation detecting unit 135 attached near the third rotation shaft 106 in the second hinge unit 122, so that a rotation angle of the third rotation shaft 106 is detected.
In FIGS. 15-16, each component of conventional examples is referred with reference numerals of 100s simply for convenience of explanation, but contents are the same. However, the reference numeral for the mobile phone is being 100 as it is.
Further, a mobile communication terminal having a structure with which a display housing is slightly turned with respect to an operation housing when the terminal is in a normally open state, or with which both housings are slightly opened when the terminal is in a reversely closed state is also known (refer to Patent Document 2, for example).
A content of Patent Document 2 is shown in FIG. 17. As shown in FIG. 17, in a mobile phone 201 disclosed in Patent Document 2, a first housing 202 and a second housing 203 are connected openably and closably via hinge 209. The hinge 209 is composed of a first rotation shaft 210 and a second rotation shaft 211 orthogonal to each other. The first rotation shaft 210 can be rotated around an axis parallel to a plain surface of a display panel 205a, with respect to the second rotation shaft 211.
With respect to an open/close state, i.e., a state of the first housing 202 and the second housing 203 being relatively opened/closed, it is detected by an open/close detecting sensor composed of a magnet 221 and a Hall element 223, and a rotation state thereof is detected by a rotation/unrotation sensor composed of a magnet 222 and a Hall element 224.
The magnet 221 of the open/close detecting sensor and the Hall element 224 of the rotation detecting sensor are provided in the first housing 202. The magnet 222 of the rotation detecting sensor is provided in the rotation shaft 210 composing the hinge 209. The Hall element 224 of the rotation detecting sensor is provided in the first housing 202.
In FIG. 17, each component of the conventional example is referred with reference numerals of 200s simply for convenience of explanation, but contents are the same.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-198062
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-303688